|
Rolling Rally Route Description
Route Map Route Timeline
The Hill Gang Advance Scout (David Larson) has painstakingly outlined and mapped the route for this years Leadership Advance. It promises to be one of the most spectacular rides in the history of ILD. Take a look at the map and description from the links listed above. and then enjoy the brief slideshow of recent preview photographs.
The great American West probably wont see this many (chrome-plated) horses in a long time. But when the Hill Gang comes ridin’ in Aug. 20, heads will turn, people will smile and waves will be exchanged as happens whenever and wherever the Freedom Fighters go.
Southern Utah will be the site for the 2002 International Leadership Development motorcycle ride qualifiers for the second Rolling Rally and the sixth annual trip. Last year, the Hill Gang rode through the Pacific Northwest after touring the sights of South Dakotas Black Hills the previous four years.
This August an equally magnificent and beautiful piece of Gods great earth will provide the sights and scenery for six days of riding, fun, laughter, camaraderie, fellowship and association.
In the heart of the American west, Utah combines spectacular terrain and the unusual history that’s unparalleled in the United States. You can comfortably enjoy the scenic splendor of the state, much of it unchanged since the pioneers arrived over 150 years ago.
According to legend, at the turn of the 19th century, an earlier “gang” roamed southern Utah. Butch Cassidy and his “Wild Bunch” supposedly used to desolate badlands that were to become national parks as one of their hiding places.
While Butch and his “gang” became famous for their rustling cattle and robbing banks and trains, the ILD “Hill Gang” is famous for their positive effect on everyone they contact through association.
On Aug. 20, the Hill Gang qualifiers will rendezvous in Cedar City, north of St. George (which is 120 northeast of Las Vegas) in southwestern Utah, and over the next week tour many of the states and country’s most famous national parks and their landmarks. The Freedom Fighters return to Cedar City Aug. 26 and leave for respective homes across the United States the next day.
Although last-minute changes could be made, the day-by-day Hill Gang schedule includes:
Day 1 – Aug. 20
 Arrival in Cedar City, about 60 miles north of St. George, and stay at the Abby Inn, where there will be renewing friendships, greetings of new qualifying members of the Hill Gang, last-minute motorcycle inspections, packing gear and a riders’ meeting to go over the Rolling Rally’s itinerary.
Day 2 – Aug. 21
The first days destination is Zion National Park, where 3,000-feet canyon walls, spectacular canyons and enormous rock formations dominate this 147,551-acre park. Considered the “grandfather” of Utah’s national parks, it is also one of the nations oldest and one of the states wildest, with large sections virtually inaccessible.
The riders will dismount at the visitors center and take shuttles designed for viewing the Zion Canyon, which is hewn out of solid rock. Sights include Grotto, Angles Landing and the Weeping Rock, as well as The Great Watchman. There also is a giant-screen movie theater and many local attractions, including galleries and shops.
From the canyon area, the Freedom Fighters will go east on the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, a serpentine road that climbs up off the canyon floor toward and through a mile-long tunnel cut out of solid rock. In the tunnel, riders will periodically catch glimpses of desert, streams and vegetation through natural and manmade windows hewn out of the rock.
Once out of the park, the ride turns north on Highway 89 and heads for Bryce Canyon National Park. The 36,000 acres of this park have been described as a geologic fairyland of rock spires rising beneath the high cliffs ranging from 6,600 to 9,100 feet in elevation. Bryce Canyon isn’t actually a canyon but a large series of massive amphitheaters cut into the Pink Cliffs.
The riders will head down the 18-mile-long drive which takes visitors to such magnificent views as Sunset, Rainbow, Yovimpa and Inspiration Point. Bryce Canyon Best Western Ruby’s Inn will be the riders “home-away-from-home” for second night.
 Day 3 – Aug. 22
The Hill Gang will leave Bryce Canyon and travel on Highway 12 toward Capital Reef National Park. Car and Driver Magazine has designated the route as one of the most beautiful roads in the United States.
On the way, the riders will pass through Escalante, home of a petrified forest and the Anasazi State Park, site of a partially excavated prehistoric Indian village.
With elevations ranging from 3,900 to 8,800 feet, Capital Reef is comprised of red sandstone cliffs capped with domes of white sandstone. The wonderfully sculptured rock layers form a rainbow of colors. Included in its 378-square miles are petroglyphy of an ancient people who lived and grew corn along the Fremont River from AD 700 to 1350.
From Capital Reef, the Hill Gang will travel east on Highway 24 toward Moab and across the desert to Green River to stay at The Bookcliff Lodge for the third night.
Day 4 – Aug. 23
On their way to Moab and the Arches and Canyonlands national parks, the riders will go 60 miles through the Manti-La-Sal National Forest and through four distinct ecological and climatological zones - everything from desert to 13,000-foot mountain aspen and lakes. They also will ride the scenic Highway 128/La-Sal Mountain Byway.
The next destination is Arches National Park with its 114-square miles of a spectacular outdoor museum, which contains the greatest density of natural arches in the world. More than 2,000 arches have been cataloged, ranging in size from 3-feet wide to the 105-feet high, 306-feet wide Landscape Arch. Other popular sites included Balanced Rock, Double Arch, Fiery Furnace and Delicate Arch. The area also is known for its petroglyphs – ancient and prehistoric art.
 The landscape of Green River and Moab is popular for another reason. Movie and commercial production companies have used the area for over 50 years. Movies filmed in the area include “Rio Grande,” “The Comancheros” and other John Wayne movies, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” the biblical epic “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Thelma and Louise,” “City Slickers II” and more than 30 other feature length films.
The evening of Aug. 23, the Hill Gang will be staying at the Moab Valley Inn. But the desert night sky and stars will be the attraction for the annual campfire near Big Bend, not unlike the early travelers of a century or more ago did as they moved west.
Talk will focus on those whom they wished were along on the trip and thankfulness and blessings for those who did qualify. It is time to be grateful for the opportunity to be with like-minded men who have a passion and destiny to change the world.
 Day 5 – Aug. 24
Leaving Moab, the riders will head south on Highway 191 toward Blanding following a quick trip into the Islands In The Sky, located in the north section of Canyonlands National Forest.
The Colorado and Green rivers cut Canyonlands into three pieces and the Island In The Sky, a 6,000-foot mesa, is the highest point from where the other two sections can be seen covering tens of thousands of acres. The Dead Horse Point State Park section edging Canyonlands National Park gives a view of the area that rivals the Grand Canyon in beauty and splendor.
Traveling south on Highway 191, the riders will enter Canyonlands from the southeast to see such magnificent sites as The Needles, potholes, rock spires and more arches and canyons.
 Day 6 – Aug. 25
After resting at the Best Western Gateway Inn, the riders will turn north from Blanding on Highway 95 and head through the upper part of the Glenn Canyon Recreational Area. But first, the Hill Gang will make a stop at the Natural Bridges National Monument – the oldest in Utah having been set aside by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.
There are three giant sandstone bridges in the park – Sipapu (the second largest natural bridge in the world at 220-feet high and a span of 280 feet), Kachina and Owachomo, which are of Hopi Indian origin. The bridges can be viewed from overlooks and trailheads on a paved 9-mile loop, which runs through the park.
At Hanksville and the intersection of highways 24 and 95, the Freedom Fighters turn west and head for the mountains, traveling back through Capitol Reef National Park to Torrey and the Wonderland Inn, their last hotel stop on the trip.
Day 7 – Aug. 26
The last day of riding takes the Freedom Fighters through the mountains of central Utah before dropping back down into Cedar City. The route consists of Highway 24 to Highway 62, turning south toward Highway 89 and south again to Highway 143 to take a beautiful mountain ride through the 11,000-foot Markagunt Plateau past Brian Head Ski Area. From there, it is a small leap off the mountains to the valley floor and the Hill Gang’s starting point.
It all starts and ends with the Abby Inn, where the last night will consist of remembrances of the wonderful and indescribable sights, sounds, experiences and memories of the just-completed (but never ending) journey.
The second ILD Rolling Rally will encompass 8 days, 7 nights and approximately 22 hours of riding time that will cover about 1,000 miles. Inclusive in those numbers is lots of time in pools, hot tubs, steak houses and chuck wagon barbecues.
There will be laughter, tears and ever-present moments when something touches a heart that brings a wish that someone else could have experienced the joy of the journey with the 2002 Hill Gang.
“I’ve always wanted to go down and see these parks,” ILD co-founder, and leader of the Hill Gang, Jack Daughery said. “I’m just like a little kid, I can hardly wait to get there.”
Daughery said the decision maybe is a bit selfish because he’s never been through this area. But he said other Hill Gang members have expressed a similar desire after seeing pictures of Utah’s beautiful scenery and a map of the route.
|
|
